weak fundamentals

The fundamentals are at the core of every technical problem. It stands to reason since every motion of playing is based on them.

So how did all this happen?

In the beginning...

Your teacher shows you how to hold the cello, the bow, where to put your fingers and so on. The basics or fundamentals. If you started young you may not even remember it.

What happens with our teachers...

Generally we imitate our teachers or take their advice, often acquiring their limitations. Child prodigies will often ignore their teachers advice because what they’re doing works. In that case teachers are smart to leave well enough alone.

Our grasp of the basics affects our playing forever…

When you consider it for a moment it becomes obvious. Our mastery of the basics is the foundation of our playing. It affects everything.

I didn't learn the fundamentals…

I studied with many of the worlds greatest teachers and didn't learn the fundamentals. This amazes me when I consider the decades I studied the cello. Why is the real question.

My teachers were exceptional players…

My teachers studied with cellists like Feuermann, Casals and Klengel. They were talented, accomplished and taught me much about music. I got the occasional nuggets of good advice. I loved them and appreciated them, but what they taught me about the basics was superficial because they didn’t understand them.

I didn't have answers for my problems…

I remember asking my teachers how do I do a bow stroke, vibrato, shift or whatever? They would earnestly try to help me, usually by demonstrating it to me. But I wasn't able to solve my most difficult issues.

When I met George Neikrug I began to learn the basics…

George studied with Dounis for 15 years and completely mastered the fundamentals. So when I met him he started teaching me the basics for the first time.

I was extremely skeptical…

I wasn’t a very good student because I was so bitter from years of failed efforts. So I tested everything he showed me and it began to prove itself. After a year and a half, I was convinced.

I fell into a process...

After three years I had an initial level of mastery and was firmly rooted in a process of development. That process has continued to make major improvements in my playing to this day.

The feeling that I can’t do something has been replaced…

All the things that I initially felt were impossible have been solved. Now there is a feeling that I can conquer any problem.

To solve a technical problem there are 2 things to do…

Identify the weak fundamentals that are the cause of the problem.

Strengthen those fundamentals.

A Summary of What You have Learned…

The reason you can’t solve technical problems is “weak fundamentals”.

Once you begin to master the basics you begin a process that keeps solving your problems.